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Jessica Nelson North
Jessica Nelson North (September 7, 1891 - June 3, 1988) was an American poet, novelist, and editor. Life Youth and family North was born in Madison, Wisconsin, the daughter of David Willard North and Sarah Elizabeth (Nelson) North. She grew up on the shore of Lake Koshkonong near to what later became St. Joseph's College in the vicinity of Edgerton, Wisconsin. She was the older sister of Sterling North, author of Rascal and many other children's books. Jessica Nelson North is one of the major characters portrayed in Rascal, which was set when she was 25. Sterling North recalled (in Rascal, Chapter 2) that "Both sisters had taken tender care of me after Mother died, Jessica in particular postponing her career and marriage." Jessica's grandparents, James Hervey Nelson and Sarah Orelup Nelson, were Wisconsin pioneers. In 1917, which would have been her grandfather James Hervey Nelson's 100th birthday, several of North's uncles wrote extended biographies about their parents and their pioneer farm life. These writing efforts may have been a literary inspiration to both her and Sterling. Jessica was the aunt of author Arielle North Olson who was Sterling's daughter. Jessica was also the niece of Justus Henry Nelson, an early missionary in the Amazon. Genealogy was one of Jessica Nelson North's avocations. Education and marriage She received a bachelor's degree from Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin and went on to graduate school at the University of Chicago. During college, she was the president of the University of Chicago Poetry Club and was the editor of the Adelphean and the History of Alpha Delta Pi. North married Reed Inness MacDonald on June 11, 1921 in Edgerton, Wisconsin and had two children. In the 1930s and 1940s, North was an editor at Poetry magazine, one of the leading poetry magazines of the English speaking world. She died in Downers Grove, Illinois. She is buried in Clarendon Hills Cemetry, Darien, Illinois.Jessica Nelson North Macdonald, Find a Grave. Web, July 23, 2015. Writing North published her debut novel, Arden Acres, in 1935. It is a family drama and social commentary set in the Great Depression, told from the point of view of the oldest daughter of a family in the fictional Arden Acres, Illinois. Her poem about a child's tea party is among her most beloved works. It begins: I had a little tea party this afternoon at three. Twas very small, three guests in all, I, Myself, and Me! She also published The Giant's Shoe, an illustrated children's book, in 1967. Her work has also been included in textbooks including Golden Trails. Recognition Jessica and Sterling North's family home in Edgerton (the setting of Rascal) was restored in the 1990's by the Sterling North Society to its 1917 appearance, and is open as a museum.Sterling North Home and Museum, Sterling North Society of Edgerton. Web, Mar. 30, 2013. Awards * The Long Leash was selected by the Poetry Club as one of the best volumes of the year. * Arden Acres won the Friends of American Writers first novel award Publications Poetry *''A Prayer Rug''. Chicago: W. Ransome, 1923. *''The Long Leash''. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1928. *''Dinner Party: Poems''. Muscatine, IA: Prairie Press, 1942. Novels * Arden Acres. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1935. *''Morning in the Land''. New York: Graystone Press, 1941. Non-fiction *''History of Alpha Delta Pi''. Ames, IA: Powers Press, 1929. *''Paintings: An introduction to art'' (with Clarence Joseph Bullett). New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1935. Juvenile *''The Giant's Shoe'' (illustrated by Esther Friend). Chicago: Rand McNally, 1967. Edited *''Songs of Alpha Deta Pi: Revised''. Ames, IA: Alpha Deta Pi, 1927. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Jessica North Macdonald, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 29, 2014. See also *List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems *Jessica Nelson North in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "The Wages of Sin," "The Sleeper," "First Autumn," "Dreams," "Suddenly," "Bogie," "Boatman," "To the Man Who Loves Twilight" *Jessica Nelson North 1891-1988 at the Poetry Foundation ;About * Jessica Nelson North MacDonald at Find a Grave *"Jessica Nelson North: Recalling the reaches of silence and sound" at Verse Wisconsin ;Etc. * The Sterling North Society Website which maintains their home as a museum * [http://www.poetrymagazine.org/about/history.html History of Poetry Magazine with a listing of its editorial staff toward the bottom] Category:1891 births Category:1988 deaths Category:People from Madison, Wisconsin Category:American children's writers Category:American novelists Category:Writers from Wisconsin Category:American poets Category:Lawrence University alumni Category:People from Edgerton, Wisconsin Category:20th-century poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:American women writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets